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Charles Kent
William Charles Mark Kent (3 November 1823 - 23 February 1902) was an English poet, journalist, and prose author. Life Kent was born in London, the eldest son in a family of 5 sons and 2 daughters, to William Kent, R.N., and Ellen, only daughter of Charles Baggs, judge of the vice-admiralty court, Demerara. Both parents were Roman Catholics, and Kent was educated first at Prior Park, Bath, and then at St. Mary's College, Oscott (13 February till Christmas 1838). At an early age he adopted the profession of letters and began writing prose and verse.Lee, 390. ''London Sun'' At Christmas 1845, when only 22, he succeeded William Frederick Deacon as editor of the Sun, an evening newspaper, which, founded in 1792 by William Pitt, had sunk into a struggling condition. Its politics had long been liberal, and it advocated free trade. Since 1833 it had been the sole property of Murdo Young of Ross, New Brunswick. In 1850 Kent purchased the paper from Young, and remained both editor and proprietor. In 1853 he married Ann (1824–1911), Young's eldest daughter. She wrote in youth several novels: ‘Evelyn Stuart’ (3 vols. 1846); ‘Maud Hamilton’; ‘The Gilberts of Ashton,’ and was a contributor to the press until 1906. She died in London on 16 Aug. 1911. She was received into the Roman catholic church in 1851. The couple had 5 sons and 2 daughters. The Sun was one of the first journals to publish book reviews, and Kent was a voluminous contributor of these as well as of leading articles. Some of his political sketches were published separately under pseudonyms. The Derby Ministry, by Mark Rochester, appeared in 1858 and was reissued as Conservative Statesmen; The Gladstone Government, by A Templar, followed in 1869. However, Kent failed, despite his zeal and industry, to restore the fortunes of the paper, which expired on 28 February 1871. Literary career After his connection with the Sun ceased, Kent edited, from 1874 to 1881, the Weekly Register,' a Roman Catholic periodical. Meanwhile Kent was called to the bar at the Middle Temple (10 June 1859), but he did not practise. He was busy seeking a literary reputation in fields outside journalism.Lee, 391. Catholicity in the Dark Ages, by an Oscotian (1847) gave promise of enlightened learning. "The Vision of Cagliostro: A tale of the five senses," which appeared in Blackwood's in 1847, was reissued in the first series of Tales from Blackwood. His earliest independent volume under his own name, Aletheia; or, The doom of mythology; with other poems (1850), showed poetic thought and feeling. One of the poems, "Lamartine in February 1848," accidentally came to the notice of the French poet and statesman 3 years after its pubhcation and drew from him an enthusiastic letter of gratitude. At the same time Kent wrote largely for Household Words and All the Year Round, and came into intimate relations with Dickens, the editor and proprietor. To the New Monthly Magazine he contributed "Stereoscopic Glimpses," 20 poems descriptive of as many English poets' home life, beginning with Shakespeare at Shottery and ending with Wordsworth at Rydal. These he collected in 1862 as Dreamland; or, Poets in their haunts. He welcomed Longfellow to England in a poem which appeared in The Times, 3 July 1868. A collected edition of Kent's Poems was published in 1870. Kent's literary acquaintance was large. It early included, besides Charles Dickens, Leigh Hunt, both the first and the second Lord Lytton, Charles Reade, Robert Browning, George Meredith, and Matthew Arnold. He caused Leigh Hunt's line, "Write me as one that loves his fellow-men," to be placed on Hunt's tomb at Kensal Green. Dickens wrote a letter to Kent within an hour of the novelist's death on 8 June 1870, and Kent presented it to the British Museum in 1879. The first letter which he received from the second Lord Lytton (4 July 1866) he also presented to the Museum in 1887. Later years His later years were largely devoted to preparing popular complete editions of the works of great writers. The collected works of Burns appeared in 1874. In 1875 he brought out a centenary edition of Lamb's works with a memoir which contained among other new facts an authentic record of Lamb's relations with Frances Maria Kelly, the actress, the information coming from Miss Kelly herself. There succeeded editions of Thomas Moore (1879), Father Prout (1881), besides Leigh Hunt as an Essayist (1888), the miscellaneous works of the first Lord Lytton (12 volumes Knebworth edition), The Wit and Wisdom of Lord Lytton (1883), and The Humour and Pathos of Charles Dickens, 1884. A literary curiosity called Corona Catholica: De Leonis XIII assumptione, epigramma in 50 linguis (sm. 4to, 1880), supplied translations of an English epigram into 50 languages; among the many eminent scholars who supplied the translations were Max Müller, who turned the epigram into Sanskrit, Prof. Sayce, who turned it into Assyrian, and Prince Lucien Bonaparte who rendered it in Basque. The MS. of this compilation is now in the British Museum. In his last years he was a frequenter of the Athenæum Club, which he joined in 1881. He was a contributor to the Dictionary of National Biography, writing among other articles those on Thomas Chatterton and Charles Reade. '' He died on 23 February 1902 at his house at Campden Hill, and was buried at St. Mary's catholic cemetery, Kensal Green. Recognition Kent received a Civil List pension of £100 on 14 January 1887. See also *List of British poets Publications Poetry *''Aletheia; or, The doom of mythology; with other poems. London: Routledge, 1850. *''Dreamland, and other poems''. London : Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1862. *''Poems. London: C. Tucker, 1870. Non-fiction *''Catholicity in the Dark Ages (by "an Oscotian"). London: 1847. *''The Ballot for Benchers''. London: C. Howorth, 1848. *''The Derby Ministry: A series of cabinet pictures'' (as "Mark Rochester").London & New York: Routledge, Warnes, & Routledge, 1858. **also published as The Lives of Eminent Conservative Statesmen. London: Routledge, 1866. * The Gladstone Government: Being Cabinet Pictures (as "Mark Rochester"). London: Hurst & Blackett, 1869. *''A Mythological Dictionary. London: Charlton Tucker, 1870. ] * ''Charles Dickens as a Reader. London: Chapman & Hall / Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1872. *''The Modern Seven Wonders of the World''. London: Routledge, 1894. Edited *Charles Lamb, Works: Poetical and dramatic tales, essays and criticisms. London: Routledge, 1875. *''Corona Catholica: Ad Petri successoris pedes oblata : de summi Pontificis Leonis XIII assumptione epigramma''>. London: C. Kegan Paul, 1880. *Father Prout, Works. London & New York: Routledge, 1881. *Thomas Moore, Poetical Works. London & New York: Routledge, 1883. *Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton, Wit and Wisdom. London: 1883. *Charles Dickens, Humour and Pathos. London: 1884. *Leigh Hunt, As poet and essayist. London: 1889. *Robert Burns, Poetical Works. London & New York: Routledge, 1898. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Charles Kent, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 15, 2017. References * Obituary: Mr. Charles Kent, man of letters in The Times * Charles Kent in Notes by the Way by J.C. Francis, (1909). * . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 15, 2017. Notes External links ;Poems *"Pope at Twickenham" in A Victorian Anthology *Charles Kent at Poetry Nook (2 poems) ;Books * ;About * Kent, Charles Category:1823 births Category:1902 deaths Category:English poets Category:English biographers Category:Charles Dickens Category:Writers from London Category:People educated at Prior Park College Category:Alumni of St Mary's College, Oscott Category:Members of the Middle Temple Category:English male writers